Protective cover for a headrest of a passenger seat, passenger seat provided with a protective cover, combination of such a passenger seat and further passenger seat, aircraft, vessel, vehicle or carriage provided with such a passenger seat and use of a protective cover

ABSTRACT

The present invention relates to a removable, loose cover-like protective cover for a headrest of a passenger seat. The protective cover has a front section for covering the front face with which the passenger&#39;s head will come into contact and a rear section for covering the rear face of the headrest facing away from the passenger&#39;s head. The rear section is provided with at least one compartment that in particular is pocket-like. The present invention further relates to a passenger seat provided with a protective cover according to the invention, a combination of a passenger seat according to the invention and a further passenger seat, an aircraft, vessel, vehicle or carriage provided with a passenger seat according to the invention and to the use of a protective cover according to the invention.

[0001] The present invention relates to a removable, loose cover-likeprotective cover for a headrest of a passenger seat, the protectivecover having a front section for covering a front face of the headrestwith which a passenger's head will come into contact.

[0002] Protective covers of this type are generally known for coveringthe headrests of passenger seats in aircraft, vessels, vehicles orcarriages. In this way the headrests of the passenger seats areprevented from becoming soiled by, in particular, the passengers' hair.The protective cover can be removed each time it has been used by apassenger or otherwise with some regularity in order to be replaced by anew protective cover or at least a clean protective cover. Theprotective cover that has been removed and taken away can then either bethrown away or, if appropriate, cleaned for re-use, depending on thematerial used for it.

[0003] In aircraft, buses, etc., the passengers are usually providedwith food, drink and other snacks or the passengers have brought theirown food, drinks or snacks, especially in the case of long journeys overa relatively long distance. The waste associated with this food andthese drinks and snacks frequently lands on the floor, certainly in theabsence of waste containers, then ends up, for example, under the seatsand has to be cleaned up later by the staff. On the one hand this isslovenly and on the other hand it entails additional work involved incleaning up.

[0004] The aim of the present invention is to provide a solution to theabovementioned problem.

[0005] The abovementioned aim is achieved according to the invention byproviding a removable, loose cover-like protective cover for a headrestof a passenger seat, the protective cover having a front section forcovering a front face of the headrest with which a passenger's head willcome into contact and also having a rear section for covering a rearface of the headrest facing away from said passenger's head, and therear section being provided with at least one compartment.

[0006] By providing the rear section of the protective cover with atleast one compartment, for example 1, 2, 3 or more compartments, itbecomes possible to deposit waste in said at least one compartment. Thiswaste can originate, for example, from food, drinks or other snacks.However, the waste can also be of a different origin. When theprotective covers are removed the waste collected in the compartmentsprovided therein is then removed at the same time. In the case of aprotective cover according to the invention it is conceivable both thatthe passenger deposits his or her waste in the compartments which areprovided in the rear section of the protective cover on his own headrestand that the passenger deposits his or her waste in the compartments inthe rear section of the protective cover over the headrest of apassenger seat located in front of that passenger. In addition to beingsuitable for waste, the compartments are also suitable for storing smallitems, which can belong to the passenger him- or herself (for examplereading glasses, pen, sweets, etc.) and/or can be provided by thirdparties, such as the transport company (for example wet tissues, drytissues, eye shades for covering the eyes when sleeping, sweets,advertising samples, etc.).

[0007] In order to prevent the at least one compartment starting to leakin the case of moist or partially moist waste, such as, for example,lids of yoghurt pots or other material, and then, for example, soilingthe upholstery on the underlying headrest of the passenger seat, it ispreferable according to the invention if the at least one compartment ismoisture-resistant, in particular water-repellent or watertight. To thisend the at least one compartment can have been subjected to a specifictreatment or provided with a conventional inner or outer lining. Fromthe standpoint of production engineering it will be preferable if theprotective cover and the at least one compartment are made of the samematerial, preferably in one piece, and if that material ismoisture-resistant, in particular water-repellent or watertight. The atleast one compartment can, for example, be produced in one piece withthe protective cover by extending the rear section of the protectivecover at the bottom, folding up this extended section onto the rearsection and joining this folded up section to the rear section by meansof stitching, adhesive joins or some other type of join.

[0008] According to the invention the protective cover can bemulti-angular, such as rectangular or with more angles.

[0009] The protective cover according to the invention can be made of awide variety of types of material, in particular of materials which arealready known per se for loose covers for passenger seat headrests. Thematerial from which so-called surgical clothing is manufactured may, forexample, also be mentioned as an example of a very suitable material. Ina more general sense, the protective cover can be made of plastic, suchas polypropylene, from woven fabric, from fibres, from paper or anycombination thereof.

[0010] With a view to simple fixing over a headrest of a passenger seat,it is advantageous according to the invention if the protective cover,for example a rectangular protective cover or multi-angular protectivecover of some other type, is made in the form of a loose cover. Such aloose cover, the dimensions of which will usually be matched to thedimensions of the headrest concerned, can easily be slid over theheadrest from the top in order to surround such a headrest on all sides.A loose cover of this type can optionally be open at the side and haveone or more bands, optionally elastic bands, joining the front and therear section to one another.

[0011] In order to fix the protective cover to the headrest it ispreferable according to the invention if the protective cover isprovided with an adhesive strip for detachable fixing to the headrest.The adhesive strip can be a touch-and-close strip, but can also beimplemented on the basis of an adhesive, said adhesive then, as is knownper se from the prior art, been so chosen that it leaves no residuesbehind on the headrest.

[0012] According to a particular embodiment, it is preferable if theprotective cover, or at least part thereof, can be printed and inparticular is printed. Incidentally, instructions for use or advertisingmessages or other types of messages can be applied to the protectivecover.

[0013] According to a further advantageous embodiment of the invention,the rear section of the protective cover is provided with a cut-out. Inthis way it is possible, inter alia, to make the protective cover fitaround a monitor or some other device provided in the rear of apassenger seat.

[0014] According to the invention, the at least one compartment willadvantageously be made pocket-like. In this context pocket-like isunderstood in particular to mean that when the protective cover is inuse the at least one compartment is provided only at the top with anentry for waste, which entry can optionally be closed off by a flap.

[0015] According to a further aspect the invention relates to apassenger seat having a headrest that is provided with a protectivecover according to the invention.

[0016] According to yet a further aspect, the present invention relatesto a combination of a passenger seat according to the invention and afurther passenger seat arranged behind it with the seat facing forwards,which further passenger seat will preferably likewise be according tothe invention.

[0017] According to yet a further aspect, the present invention relatesto an aircraft, vessel, vehicle or carriage provided with at least onepassenger seat according to the invention or at least one passenger seatcombination according to the invention.

[0018] According to yet a further aspect, the invention relates to theuse of a protective cover according to the invention for covering aheadrest of a passenger seat.

[0019] The present invention will be explained in more detail below withreference to an illustrative embodiment shown diagrammatically in thedrawing. In the drawing:

[0020]FIG. 1 shows a diagrammatic plan view of a protective coveraccording to the invention laid out flat;

[0021]FIG. 2 shows a diagrammatic, perspective view of the rear of thepassenger seat provided with a protective cover according to theinvention;

[0022]FIG. 3 shows a perspective, diagrammatic view of the front of apassenger seat according to the invention;

[0023]FIG. 4 shows a perspective view corresponding to the perspectiveview in FIG. 2, but now of a passenger seat having a video screen andprotective cover according to the invention adapted to this;

[0024]FIG. 5 shows a highly diagrammatic side view of two passengerseats positioned one behind the other and provided with a protectivecover according to the invention.

[0025] With reference to FIG. 1, the protective cover consists of afront section 1, a rear section 2 and an intermediate section 3 locatedbetween them. The rear section 2 is provided with three compartments 4.The compartments 4 are pocket-like with an entry 5. The intermediatesection 3 is provided with an adhesive strip 6. The protective cover,indicated in its entirety by 10, has been produced from a single pieceof material that initially was larger than is shown in FIG. 1. The rearsection 2 was extended on the left. This extended section was foldedback along a fold line 7, now bottom edge 7 of the rear section 2, tocome into contact with the rear section 2 and was then fixed to saidrear section 2 by means of four parallel stitched seams 8. The threepocket-like compartments 4 are formed in this way.

[0026]FIGS. 2 and 3 show the protective cover 10 fitted on a passengerseat 20. The passenger seat 20 is shown highly diagrammatically and ismade up of a seat 21, a backrest 22 and a headrest 23 on top of thelatter. FIG. 3 shows a perspective view of the seat side of thepassenger seat 20. The front of the headrest 23 is oriented towards thisseat side. The front section 1 of the protective cover 10 is in contactwith the front of the headrest 23 to protect it against soil. Theintermediate section 3 is on the top edge of the headrest 23 and isfixed to said top of the headrest 23 by means of the adhesive strip 6.As can be seen in FIG. 2, the rear section 2 of the protective cover 10according to the invention lies against the rear of the headrest 23 andthere provides three compartments 4 for depositing waste. FIG. 5 shows,highly diagrammatically, two passenger seats 20 one behind the other,each provided with a protective cover 10 according to the invention.This illustrates that the passenger in the rear passenger seat 20 iseasily able to reach the compartments 4 in the protective cover 10 onthe front passenger seat 20 in order to deposit waste in these.

[0027]FIG. 4 shows a perspective and diagrammatic view of the rear of apassenger seat 30 with a protective cover 40 according to the invention.The passenger seat 30 has a seat 31, a backrest 32 and a headrest 33. Avideo screen 34 is provided in the back of the headrest so that apassenger in a passenger seat behind it can see images on the videoscreen. The protective cover 40 has an intermediate section 43, thatonce again clings to the top edge of the headrest 33, and a rear section42 that, in order to leave the video screen 34 exposed, is provided witha cut-out with a pocket-like compartment 44 on either side. Completelyseparately from the cut-out for the video screen 34, the protectivecover 40 is provided on either side with bands 45 to join the frontsection 41 and rear section 42 of the protective cover 40 to one anotherin order, as it were, to form a loose cover that is open at the sides.It should be clear that the front section 41 and the rear section 42 canoptionally also be joined on either side in a closed manner by an insertof the sheet-like material so as, as it were, to form a closed loosecover.

[0028] The protective cover according to the invention can essentiallybe made from any type of material. The protective cover will inparticular be made of a material that does not pollute the environmentor at least does not pollute it to any great extent and that thus can bethrown away and can be further processed as waste by the conventionalroute. The protective cover according to the invention willadvantageously be printed with, for example, instructions for use oradvertising messages. In order to prevent moist materials and/or wastefrom leaking through, the compartments will preferably be lined on theinside, and optionally on the outside, with a hydrophobic lining inorder to render the compartment moisture-repellent or moisture-tight. Itis also conceivable that the compartments are rendered hydrophobic notso much by lining with a material suitable for this purpose but becausethe material from which the compartments have been made is itselfhydrophobic. It is also conceivable that the entire protective cover isproduced from a hydrophobic material or optionally material providedwith a hydrophobic lining.

1. Removable, loose cover-like protective cover (10) for a headrest (23)of a passenger seat (20), the protective cover (10) having a frontsection (1) for covering a front face of the headrest (23) with which apassenger's head will come into contact and also having a rear section(2) for covering a rear face of the headrest (23) facing away from saidpassenger's head, and the rear section (2) being provided with at leastone compartment (4).
 2. Protective cover (10) according to claim 1,wherein the at least one compartment (4) is moisture-resistant, inparticular water-repellent or watertight.
 3. Protective cover (10)according to one of the preceding claims, wherein the protective cover(10) and the at least one compartment (4) are made of the same material,preferably in one piece, and wherein that material ismoisture-resistant, in particular water-repellent or watertight. 4.Protective cover (10) according to one of the preceding claims, whereinthe protective cover (10) is multi-angular.
 5. Protective cover (10)according to one of the preceding claims, wherein the protective cover(10) is made of plastic, such as polypropylene, of woven fabric, offibres, of paper or of any combination thereof.
 6. Protective cover (10)according to one of the preceding claims, wherein the protective cover(10) is made in the form of a loose cover.
 7. Protective cover (10)according to one of the preceding claims, wherein the protective cover(10) is provided with an adhesive strip (6) for detachable fixing to theheadrest (23).
 8. Protective cover (10) according to one of thepreceding claims, wherein the protective cover (10), or at least partthereof, can be printed and preferably is printed.
 9. Protective cover(10) according to one of the preceding claims, wherein the rear section(2) is provided with a cut-out.
 10. Protective cover (10) according toone of the preceding claims, wherein the at least one compartment (4) ispocket-like.
 11. Passenger seat (20) having a headrest (23) providedwith a protective cover (10) according to one of the preceding claims.12. Combination of a passenger seat (20) according to claim 11 and afurther passenger seat (20) arranged behind it with the seat (21) facingforwards, which further passenger seat (20) is preferably also inaccordance with claim
 11. 13. Aircraft, vessel, vehicle or carriageprovided with at least one passenger seat (20) according to claim 11 orat least one passenger seat (20) combination according to claim
 12. 14.Use of a protective cover (10) according to one of claims 1-10 forcovering a headrest (23) of a passenger seat (20).